Australian captain Ricky Ponting had a few posers for England team, sharp enough to make them squirm in their seats ahead of the first semi-finals of the Champions Trophy here on Monday.

"It's good to have England captain (Michael Vaughan) come to the crease without any decent innings in the middle," said Ponting.

 "We would like it to stay that way, though cricket is a funny game and just one or two good hits in the middle could turn the whole thing around."    

Vaughan has been in real bad form and has scored only 147 runs from last 10 matches at an average of 23.00 - an area which Australia would like to exploit to the hilt.

Ponting also did not fail to remind England that Australia had won 14 consecutive matches against them, starting from January 1999 when they last lost to England in Melbourne.    

"It's a handy record and we would like it to stay that way, though again you can't predict in one-day cricket."    

There have been suggestions in local media that England should try to take advantage of the fourth and fifth bowling options of Australia which is manned by Shane Watson, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds.    

But Ponting shot back, "not if your fourth bowler is Brett Lee. Having said that, Shane Watson has come on hugely with his bowling and is a handy presence with bat and in the field. Lehmann we have turned to regularly in one-day cricket.     

 "Most of the teams are vulnerable when it comes to the fourth and fifth bowlers and we are no different. India has Tendulkars and Sehwags to look after in this area and we have our own slotted men," Ponting said.

"But you can't go into the game worrying about such issues. There are bowlers to make up for failures of others."    

The skipper was non-committal if Brett Lee would turn up in the semi-final tomorrow but there is more than a fair chance they would stick to Watson.    

For one, Watson lengthens their batting to number eight. Lee also tends to be a bit expensive in one-day cricket. Further, the express fast bower has not played too many matches of late. 

 Ponting also made light of Andrew Flintoff's massive presence in England line-up, both with the bat and ball. Flintoff has three hundreds and one 99 from the last six games and has become a thorn in the flesh for the opposition.    

 "We have ordered to have a close look at not only him but also the rest of England batters. We will see it turns up tomorrow."    

 Ponting did not get down to evaluate other teams, including England, whose supporters have started to proclaim their side as the second best in the world.    

"We can't say who all have improved, we just like to do our things well. We like to stay a bit in front of the opposition and more so when big games come around. "We would like to think we are ahead of the rest of the competition," said the confident skipper.